David Richard Wall

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(15 March 1946 – 18 June 2013) was an English

ballet dancer A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, where he was promoted to the rank of principal at the age of 21, the youngest in company history at the time.

Early life and education

Wall was born in Chiswick, London and went to preparatory school at Halliford School in Shepperton, where ballroom dancing classes were compulsory. His mother always said that he developed an interest in ballet watching the girls in the ballet classes that followed those ballroom classes. He then started weekly ballet classes with Mrs. Durnsford in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. Wall studied at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

and subsequently joined The Royal Ballet.

Career

Wall was 20 when he was promoted to soloist. A year later, he became the youngest male principal in the history of

, until

Sergei Polunin Sergei Vladimirovich Polunin (russian: Сергей Владимирович Полунин, ua, Сергій Володимирович Полунін, ''Serhiy Volodymyrovych Polunin''; born 20 November 1989) is a Russian ballet dancer, acto ...

’s promotion in 2010 at the age of 20. He remained with the company until 1984. Among his roles were Crown Prince Rudolf in

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. E ...

's ''

Mayerling Mayerling is a small village (pop. 200) in Lower Austria belonging to the municipality of Alland in the district of Baden. It is situated on the Schwechat river, in the Wienerwald (''Vienna woods''), southwest of Vienna. From 1550, it was in t ...

'', the Young Man in Frederick Ashton's ''

The Two Pigeons ''The Two Pigeons'' (original French title: ''Les deux pigeons'') is a fable by Jean de la Fontaine (Book IX.2) that was adapted as a ballet with music by André Messager in the 19th century and rechoreagraphed to the same music by Frederick Ashto ...

'', the Rake in a revival of

Ninette de Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...

's Hogarth-based work ''

The Rake's Progress ''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings '' A Rake's Prog ...

'', Colas in Ashton's ''

La fille mal gardée LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

'', and Siegfried in '' Swan Lake'', in which he was the youngest Siegfried ever seen at Covent Garden. Wall was a frequent partner to Dame

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias DBE (''née'' Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn, was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with the Royal Ballet (formerly the Sadler's Wells ...

. In 1977, he won the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. Wall retired from The Royal Ballet in 1984 and was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

1985 New Year Honours The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. In 1985 Wall joined the

Royal Academy of Dancing "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3R ...

where he was director and general secretary until 1991. Following this he became guest repetiteur with

London City Ballet London City Ballet was a British ballet company founded in 1978. Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife ...

, and joined

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

as ballet master in 1995. A statue based on David Wall, ''Jeté'', by Enzo Plazzotta, was installed in 1975 on the corner of 46-57 Millbank,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

, London.

Personal life

Wall married Alfreda Thorogood, a fellow dancer, in 1967. They first met when Wall was aged ten and both were students at the

. They had two children together, Daniel and Annelise. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at his family home in Croydon, London, on 18 June 2013.

References

External links

*
1978 Desert Island Discs with David Wall
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, David 1946 births 2013 deaths Deaths from cancer in England Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People educated at the Royal Ballet School People from Chiswick Principal dancers of The Royal Ballet English male ballet dancers